Flash Movie Review: Bad Teacher

Two days prior to watching this movie I had to complete an advanced abuse prevention training for one of the health facilities. The subjects I reviewed did not surprise me; it was remembering things I witnessed during my school years and how they would be so unacceptable now. How many of you remember a teacher keeping a student after class or having a pupil sitting alone with an instructor in a room for detention. According to the training module I read it is no longer acceptable, unless there is easy visibility for other individuals to see the teacher and student. I can go down a list of my teachers and find many who would be considered violators now, besides being inappropriate back then. There was one teacher who periodically would be drunk in class; his face turning bright red as he slurred his words. There was another teacher who was living with one of their former students. Oh and how could I forget the teacher who would throw a ball at their students’ heads to get their attention? If you combine all of my teachers together as one, I am not sure they would be the worst teacher ever compared to the bad teacher in this comedy. Cameron Diaz (Gangs of New York, There’s Something About Mary) played Elizabeth Halsey; who after being dumped by her wealthy fiance was forced to teach at a middle school. Her motivation had nothing to do with the students; instead it was how quickly she could get money to pay for her breast augmentation procedure. I enjoyed Cameron in this role and thought she was outrageous, doing a decent job. The other teachers were too much like cartoon characters, such as Lucy Punch (Hot Fuzz, Stand Up Guys) as Amy Squirrel and Phyllis Smith (Butter, The Office-TV) as Lynn Davies. Surprisingly I thought Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Muppets) was not used enough as PE instructor Russell Gettis and Justin Timberlake’s (In Time, Runner Runner) character was just weird. This award winning movie was crude in parts, but there were a couple of chuckle worthy scenes. I did not find the ending satisfying with the change that took place. Overall watching this film would be a harmless activity, unlike having to be a student at this school.

2 1/4 stars — DVD

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About moviejoltz

From a long line of movie afficionados, one brother was the #1 renter of movies in the country with Blockbuster, I am following in the same traditions that came before me. To balance out the long hours seated in dark movie theaters, I also teach yoga and cycling. For the past 3 years, I have correctly picked the major Oscar winners... so join me as we explore the wonder of movies and search for that perfect 4 star movie.

Thanks for the review. I liked the trailer so much I watched it twice haha! Can’t wait to see the movie. I’ve always enjoyed the talents of comedy actresses including Cameron and Drew Barrymore. They always inject a big dose of fun into their roles.

Good to hear from you; I hope all is well with you. After you see this movie I would love to hear your take on it. Thanks for leaving your comments and I enjoyed hearing how you watched the trailer twice. Be well.

My favorite teacher was Mrs. Jones. She was also the coach’s wife but it was the late 80’s, she was a sexy blonde and she knew it. She came to class one day wearing a short leather jacket, leather miniskirt and a fuschia high heels with a matching tube top that displayed her midrift and cleavage clearly. You can imagine how that would impact a group of male high school Juniors. I wonder how that would be viewed in today’s schools.
But when I first saw the previews for Bad Teacher, my initial response was, “Blah.” It just did not appeal to me in the slightest. Then one day while flipping through the premium movie channels, I stumbled across it and laughed within the first 5 minutes. That may not seem like much to for me to laugh out loud at any comedy is saying something as most leave me bored being nothing more than rehashed cookie cutter cliches.
I set the DVR for the next showing and watched it from the beginning. Overall I enjoyed the film finding it funnier than any of the Hangover films or anything with Seth Rogen *cringe* and give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Aren’t those school memories really something that never leave us. You are so right that today your teacher would be asked to go home and change. Thank you for telling me your experience about your surprise discovery of this movie. I love when stuff like this happens. Take care and thanks again for coming by.

I recently had another surprise movie that I really enjoyed; The Life of Pi. I had no interest in seeing the movie believing that the targeted demographic was children but much like Bad Teacher, I started watching it half way in and then recorded it from the beginning. I was captivated by the film going through a range of emotions from beginning to end and thankful that I didn’t miss the opportunity..

Ang Lee definitely regained my respect after his take on The Hulk with Eric Bana. Thankfully the movie studios didn’t give up on such an iconic Marvel character and we were soon given The Incredible Hulk to take its place in history. The Abomination is a much more fitting opponent than a pack of mutated dogs and Tim Roth, as usual, proved to be an intriguing character and villain.

Now I’ve got a question for you; Who are your top 5 character actors? (Go ahed and name 10 if you need to.)

Lol, on my bucket list is to be at the Oscar telecast one day. I would love to be a seat filler, but I do not care if I am high up in the balcony. I will keep you in mind if I ever get tickets. Thanks for coming by and leaving your comments. And if you get to see this film, I would enjoy hearing your views.

Hi and thank you for your comments. Cameron was so much fun in this film. I want to tell you that you are so lucky and fortunate to live in such a beautiful country. Take care and you are always welcome here.